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<H2 ALIGN="CENTER">China: A Literary Companion</H2>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Written by A. C. Grayling and Susan Whitfield,
published by John Murray Publishers, London.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Reviewed by Rick Waugh</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">'If China had not been there,' wrote Lord
Dunsany, 'this land of dragons, peach trees, peonies and plum blossoms, with
its ages of culture, slowly storing its dreams in green jade, is just the land
that poets would have invented.'</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">This quote is just one of many included in this
delightful book. The authors have pulled prose and poetry from many centuries
and writers, both Chinese and foreign, to illustrate what China, its history
and culture are all about. The authors discuss a point or a place; they then
switch over to the writers' quotes to illustrate, maintaining a lovely balance
when doing so.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">The chapters have sublime titles: 'Rivers and
Routes', 'The Poet in the Landscape', 'Gods, Ghosts and Demons', 'Sons of
Heaven' are just a few. It's a literary book, explaining culture, and both
Chinese and foreign interaction with that culture, yet it does so in a light,
engaging manner. It's literary, but neither pretentious, nor tedious. It's a
travelogue, but you can see and feel the people and the landscape they
traverse.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Confucius wrote, (quoted in the preface to
'Pleasures'), 'To be fond of something is better than merely to know it; to
find joy in it is better than merely to be fond of it.' This book will increase
your joy in knowing more of the culture of your children's birth, and provide
immense pleasure all by itself.</FONT></P>
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<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-2"><B>Last Updated: October 31st, 1999 </B></FONT> 
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